Sunday, July 25, 2021

Tokyo Food Guide - What to Eat in Tokyo?

What to eat in Tokyo? There are so many different types of food, but we have limited space in our stomach, and limited budget. In this post, we are sharing with you our Tokyo food guide.


Tsukiji Fish Market
It is often a misconception that Tsukiji Fish Market has moved to Toyosu Fish Market. Well, it is actually the inner part of the market that has moved, the outer market is still vibrant with many tourists!

Tsukiji Fish Market is easily accessible by subway. You can either take Toei Oedo Line to Tsukijishijo Station 築地市場駅 (exit A1), or Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line to Tsukiji Station 築地駅 (exit 1).

Let us share with you our Tsukiji Fish Market Food Map!

base map: Google Maps

Marutoyo (丸豐) rice balls  
The rice balls went into our stomach without any photo taken as we were too hungry! There is a variety of types of rice balls, for example, salmon, pork with miso, deep fried prawn and so on. The price is around 200+ yen (~S2.50) for each, and the size is bigger than those you can find in convenient stores. Other than rice balls, there are also various types of sushi and rice bowls.

Yamachou Matsue (築地 山長) tamagoyaki / sweet egg omelette  
There are many stalls that sell tamagoyaki (sweet egg omelette), and we had ours from Yamachou Matsue. It was rather therapeutic to see the chef skillfully preparing the egg through the glass window. The egg is mixed with dashi, so it is very tasty. It is only 100 yen each, and I think it is a must-try street food at Tsukiji Fish Market.



Stewed squids and grilled scallop with sea urchin (Forgot the name of the shop) and Miyako (みやこ) grilled seafood 
My initial plan was to eat grilled seafood on scallop shell from Miyako, however the shop was closed when we reached there! At 1000 yen, there are grilled tuna, scallop, sea urchin and crab claw on a scallop shell. 

So we looked for another shop that sold cooked seafood. The children had the stewed squids which cost 500 yen (~S$6+), and they like it. 


I ordered grilled scallop with sea urchin which was 600 yen (~S$7.50). I thought that the sea urchin was a tad wasted as it was overly burnt.


Marusai (丸焼きたこせんべい) takosenbei / octopus cracker
When we saw other visitors eating this crispy octopus cracker, we were very curious and bought one. It was quite costly though, at 600 yen each (~S$7.50). But it was quite an interesting experience to see how the staff prepared the cracker with the press machine.




Harajuku
Harajuku is very crowded! Especially along Takeshita Street, there are many eateries and shops that sell fashionable and cute items. 


This is our Harajuku food map:

base map: Google Maps


Totti Candy Factory 
The children thought they found the heaven when they entered Totti Candy Factory located at Takeshita Street. There are many different types of candy. 



It was interesting to see the staff preparing the giant candy floss 950 yen (~S$12). It was bigger than my head! 


Kebab Box J
The shop sells kebab and very long fries. This portion of long fries cost 500 yen (~S$6), not cheap though. The fries are crispy, but be careful as you eat the fries, they may break as they are too long!


Luke's Lobster
The branch at Omodesando was rather well hidden. There are also branches at Shinjuku and Shibuya. We ordered Lobster Roll (light) which cost 980 yen excluding tax (~S$13+). It is an interesting combination of warm bun with cold lobster meat. It is satisfying to have a big chunk of lobster meat. However the seasoning is rather strong for me, the garlic butter taste lingered in my mouth for quite some time.



Ikebukuro
There is a great variety of food at Ikebukuro. However as we only planned for one evening in this area, we could only choose to visit one restaurant.

Katsumidori Sushi 活美登利
I heard that the queue was crazy at Katsumidori Sushi 活美登利 located at Seibu Ikebukuro level 8. We were there early at 5+ p.m. on a weekday, so we waited for a short while only. After dinner, we saw the snaking long queue outside the restaurant!

You can either take the sushi from the conveyor belt, or order through the tablet and receive the sushi from a "train". The ingredients are fresh and delicious. 

otoro (tuna belly) sushi

sea urchin gunkan

Yonezawa beef sushi

Mutekiya (無敵家) ramen
We visited this ramen restaurant a decade ago, and I recalled that we queued for 45 minutes last time! The soup was very flavourful.

photo taken a decade ago

photo taken a decade ago


Tokyo Dome City (LaQua Area)
As we stayed near Tokyo Dome, we went to Tokyo Dome City LaQua Area very often to hunt for food.

Kaisen Misakiko (海鮮三崎港) sushi
Ordering sushi at this chain of sushi restaurant is very easy - there are tablets and you can choose English menu. Most of the food are delivered by a "train" except miso soup and chawamushi. The price ranges from 110 yen to 590 yen excluding tax (~S$1.50 to S$8). The sea urchin is fresh and sweet!

steamed scallop sushi

sea urchin gunkan

conger eel sushi


Seijoishi Supermarket (成城石井)
Seijoishi Supermarket reminds me of Cold Storage or FairPrice Finest Supermarkets in Singapore. Other than bento and some other cooked food, there are also our favourite grilled sweet potato (but it was only available every day). Visit the supermarket at evening to get the food at a discount price!



Nagameguro
Although we have been to Tokyo a few times, it was our first time visiting Nagameguro. Other than Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo, there are other cafes which I wish to visit next time.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo
The building itself is like a tourist attraction, we spent some time walking around from the first level to the fourth level.


We bought Golden Sky Black Tea Latte (950 yen excluding tax) and genmai with cardamom peach tea (850 yen excluding tax). Golden Sky Black Tea Latte attracts people's attention. We have to use the chopsticks to mix the cotton candy floss into the tea, which makes it golden colour. How about the taste? Well, even a sweet tooth like me found it too sweet! Genmai with cardamom peach tea has a nice peach fragrance and is also quite sweet.



We also ordered Pantheon Blend coffee (630 yen excluding tax) and Pistacchio Mortadella sandwich (860 yen excluding tax). Pantheon Blend coffee is great for coffee lover, the aroma and taste is perfect!



Afuri
Yes, Afuri has a branch in Singapore, but the one in Tokyo is so many times better! The char grilled char siew at Afuri Tokyo makes a significant difference. In addition, Afuri Tokyo offers vegetarian version of ramen, which Singapore branch does not.




Mitsuyado Seimen (三ツ矢堂製麺) tsukemen 
We visited the branch at Kawagoe, but there is also another branch at Nagameguro if you are not heading to Kawagoe. It was the first time that I tried tsukemen with cheese! The dipping sauce is also different from the typical one, there is a tinge of yuzu taste in it. 



Shimbashi

Pablo cheese tarts
On our way to Caretta Shiodome to watch the winter illumination, we walked through Wing Shinbashi where I spotted Pablo, so I quickly grabbed one. Other than the cheese tarts at Kinotoya at Hokkaido, I think Pablo cheese tart is one of the better cheese tarts that I have ever tasted.




Marugame Seimen (丸亀製麺) udon
It is a chain of udon restaurants and you can find the outlets all over Japan. My eyes were attracted by the sign "limited edition" - udon with oysters and egg! The appearance did not look very appealing, but I like the oysters!




at 3:51 PM
Labels: , , , , ,

No comments :

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )